A senior radiologist has been arrested after multiple allegations of aggravated sexual assault and stalking against hospital colleagues, according to media reports.
Until recently, Dr. Emanuele Michieletti was head of the Radiology Department at the Guglielmo da Saliceto Hospital in Piacenza, about 70 km south-east of Milan. The 60-year-old, who was born in Vercelli in Piedmont and who graduated in Milan, was arrested on 7 May, noted an article in the Il Messaggero national newspaper.
An investigation by the Piacenza prosecutor's office revealed a disturbing picture of systematic abuse occurring in the workplace, with 32 documented episodes in just 45 days, the report stated.
The complaint that triggered the investigation occurred in January 2025, when a doctor went to Michieletti's office to discuss a planned vacation. Michieletti allegedly locked the door and physically assaulted the colleague and abused her. A team from the region's Azienda Sanitaria Locale (ASL, the administrative body responsible for public hospitals, clinics, and medical services in Reggio Emilia) installed hidden cameras in the office and monitored all phone calls, according to Il Messaggero.
Michieletti allegedly then committed sexual acts with almost all the women who entered his office alone, the report continued. Some episodes were consensual, but most cases were abusive, having been accompanied by “domineering attitudes, psychological pressure, and exploitation of his hierarchical role,” the local prosecutor noted. Testimonies from eight staff members referred to an environment marked by fear and silence.
Accusations of investigators
According to the investigation, coordinated by chief prosecutor Grazia Pradella, Michieletti’s stalking and/or sexual harassment appear to have gone on for a long time, the first cases dating back 15 years, but very few people in the radiology department complained to management, Corriere Della Sera reported.
Some hospital staff speak highly of the chief radiologist -- “I have been here for years, and I have never noticed anything of the sort,” said one nurse -- but others referred to “a climate of silence.” Many people reportedly said they knew the truth about him but never wanted, or had the strength, to point the finger at a doctor considered to be very powerful.
The investigators have questioned dozens of staff in the department, and some people have denied even what was documented in video and audio evidence. For this reason, they will be summoned again, Corriere Della Sera stated.
The basement office in which the alleged attacks took place has now been sealed off, like a crime scene out of a movie, and the ASL management has fired Michieletti for just cause, the article added.
In the preliminary interrogation, Michieletti reportedly chose to remain silent. “We want to acquire a copy of the documents before making any comment,” said his lawyer, Massimiliano Casarola.
Hospital culture
Inspectors found the hospital environment to be “seriously silent and self-referential,” according to a report posted on 10 May by the Il Mio Giornale website.
The abusive behavior of Michieletti had long been known to many of the staff -- so much so that he boasted to male colleagues about what he did to his victims, the article noted. He was reported to be a powerful man, both in terms of his role within local healthcare and his acquaintances, and staff knew that speaking out about him would have repercussions in their professional and personal lives.
The director general of the ASL, Paola Bardasi, has replaced Michieletti with Dr. Giuseppe Marchesi, head of radiology at Castel San Giovanni, located in a nearby town. In addition, Michieletti was suspended on 10 May by the directors of the Piacenza Medical Association, after Augusto Pagani, the president of the association, called an urgent meeting to deal with the case. The group will join the criminal proceedings against Michieletti as a civil party, Il Mio Giornale said.
Also on 10 May, Giancarlo Tagliaferri of Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy, a right-wing populist political party in Italy), who is vice president of the Legislative Assembly of the Emilia-Romagna Region, called for a shake-up of the Piacenza ASL, in light of the very serious recent events, the report concluded.
"This terrible affair"
In a public statement, Bardasi expressed "her heartfelt thanks to the doctor who, with courage, decided to contact the management to report the incident, thus starting the preliminary investigations.
"I was happy that she contacted me directly, with trust, in this terrible affair. As a woman, learning about this affair was particularly painful," she pointed out. "These are very serious facts."
For more details, go to: notizie.it/en/I-convinced-the-doctor-to-speak-the-words-of-the-director-of-the-ASL-after-the-violence-at-the-Piacenza-hospital/
